Mostly Cloudy, 61°
Weather sponsored by:

Delayed by pandemic, Palagio celebrates its grand opening

By Bruce Hope bruce@opcfla.com
Posted 4/14/21

ORANGE PARK – Palagio Senior Living in Orange Park has a grand opening on its horizon. The senior living community located on Kingston Avenue near the Orange Park Medical Center and St. …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Don't have an ID?


Print subscribers

If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.

Non-subscribers

Click here to see your options for subscribing.

Single day pass

You also have the option of purchasing 24 hours of access, for $1.00. Click here to purchase a single day pass.

Delayed by pandemic, Palagio celebrates its grand opening


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Palagio Senior Living in Orange Park has a grand opening on its horizon. The senior living community located on Kingston Avenue near the Orange Park Medical Center and St. Catherine’s Catholic Church finally can officially celebrate after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been open now since June of last year,” said Tracy Underwood, Executive Director at Palagio Senior Living. “But we’ve been in the making for the last several years. You know, construction and whatnot, but then COVID pandemic really slowed us down. We were actually supposed to have had our grand opening last year on April 30. We are having it this year on April 27. The plan’s been in the works for years.”

Palagio is a vibrant complex of senior-aged residents who can live on their own. Many seniors are hesitant to consider living there because they believe it is a nursing home and doesn’t want to live in one.

“A lot of seniors are resistant thinking we are a nursing home. This is not a nursing home,” Underwood said. “We do not have a nursing home license. We have an assisted living license. People who are still independent, driving, really can take care of themselves but realize they are getting older can move in. And then, if they need to have care later, they can add care without having to move, not a different place in the community or anything like that. They get to live where they moved into.”

Carol Pangborn is a resident, and she was the first person to move into the complex. “I love it,” she said. “They care. They really do care about us [the residents]. It’s not just making a profit. They put us first. They try to find things for us to do that we’re enthusiastic about. Today, we had travelogue of Scotland, tomorrow we’re going to play Bingo and we all love our Bingo. They have cooking demonstrations, once-a-week happy hour, arts and crafts; just a whole variety of arts and crafts for us.”

Pangborn also said the staff at Palagio is open to suggestions new ideas.

Palagio offers senior residents the opportunity to live in a resort-style environment with many amenities. There are 102 apartments and 35 currently are occupied. It is a state-of-the-art building and has many activities and amenities.

“The residents are able to make so many choices to tell us how they want to live their best lives,” said Underwood.

Seven days a week, there are activities for the residents, such as dance lessons, elevated gardening, yoga, painting and more. “We’re accepting reservations and moving people in,” said Underwood. Currently, Palagio is accepting applications and deposits and is conduction three or four tours daily for prospective residents.

Between the high-level culinary experiences available to the residents, the activities and amenities, and healthcare services, Palagio offers everything seniors need in a central Orange Park location.

Palagio is managed by Concordis Senior Living of Ocala and is owned by Hal and Josie Marston. They do competitive market analysis with the other licenses assisted living facilities in the area, and “We’re right in the sweet spot,” Underwood said.